As we approach Christmas, I felt it is time for another in my occasional series on the joys of being dyslexic. My thoughts turn back to when I was a youngster. As someone who couldn't really read properly until I was 12, Xmas was a strange time. If you have dyslexic children, maybe you'd want to consider this. When I was nine, my reading age was 5. My mum mentioned this to a kindly relative. They very kindly bought me a book for a five year old. I wasn't thick, I just had difficulty reading. I didn't want a book for a five year old, I wanted something of interest to a nine year old with problems reading. Such a gift = humiliation for me, especially unwrapped in front of all the family. That was bad enough, but all of the patronising comments in stilted voices. "Oh what a lovely book". My family used to wonder why I would spend hours sulking. I developed a strong aversion to people telling me what I should like. What did I like? Comics. With the pictures it all made sense. I loved football, so comics such as Roy of The Rovers were good. My very favourite was Countdown. The Stories were sci-fi based and featured series I liked such as UFO and Dr Who. It morphed into TV Action. This was around the time I decided I didn't like change for the sake of change. The relaunch wasn't very successful and the comic died a slow death.
One of my favourite TV shows was Thunderbirds. As any fan will know, the Thunderbirds codeword was FAB. When I was about six, I asked my big sister what FAB stood for. She replied "Thunderbirds are GO!". It made perfect sense to a dyslexic. I remember a radio show (Robert Elms I think) recently where someone asked what FAB stood for. I thought "My word, they must be stupid, everyone knows it stands for Thunderbirds are GO!". As caller after caller rang, unable to give the right answer, I felt smugger and smugger. Then the penny dropped. All these years of smug delusion.
You may wonder when my reading difficulties went away? The answer was when I started trying to read books which interested me. Sci Fi generally. What really irritates me is the fact my teachers used to tell my parents to ration my reading of comics. Why? Because I should read "proper books". As a net result, I just read less. What amused me most about the whole thing was when VIZ sprung to promenance. I suspect that dyslexics everywhere secretly rejoiced that they could enjoy a good comic again. Of course there are plenty of comics aimed at a more mature readership, with 2000AD being the best known in the UK sci fi genre. Many of the police state innovations were mooted in the Judge Dredd stories long before our own police mooted them. When we went on holiday in the summer, my daughter bought me a book with a collection of early Judge Dredd stories, to read on the plane. These were written in 1977-78, around the time I was heavily into Punk rock. The echoes of the time abounded within the names of villains such as "Spikes Harvey Rotten". My good lady is mystified as to what a grown man finds so fascinating in such strips. I've long since given up trying to justify my love of the genre. As I perused some of the other books on the best seller shelf, such as the Jordan Life Story, I realised that there are still many books I wouldn't touch with a bargepole and my own tastes are not that bad
Couple of things Rog, Barrington Stokes are a publisher who produce books by top authors, with age appropriate content, but a simpler vocabulary, plenty of space on the page and sans serif font.
ReplyDeleteSince you raised the dyslexia thing I did wonder whether the closing comment on your Brian Coleman post (about him going down in the annals/ anals of history) was dylexia, Freudian or deliberate.
Jaybird, the honest answer. All three. It started there as dyslexia (and possibly freudian) and when clare pointed it out to me, I thought it was quite funny, so it became deliberate.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on Barrington Stokes. I pretty much always proof read and often get clare to proof read blogs as well, if I'm not sure of something. I still get plenty of things wrong, especially grammar and apostrophies. The readership doesn't seem to mind too much though, or maybe they are just kind.
In Barnet, we have learned to make allowances.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite 'dyslexias' is putting your fingers on the wrong keys before you start to type. I sometimes type my name as Voclo which sounds like a character in a sf story. (The 'word verification' I have to type now is vikedg.)
So what does it stand for if not 'Funderbirds are bo'?
ReplyDeleteThere are not only the type of books Laybird mentioned but also many graphic novels suitable for say, teenage dyslexic readers. I don't think it matters what this age group reads as long as some joy of reading is instilled and then, as you found, it is possible to find a passion for some subject or genre which the child genuinely loves and is able to read with fluency. It helps to have a sympathetic English teacher who doesn't put a red line through every spelling mistake or error and helps to build the child's confidence. One of my children with this problem arrived at secondary school unable to write a clear sentence and managed to pass A* Eng lit, with the help of the same teacher who somehow inspired him to want to read and express himself: unfortunately many teachers just can't understand the problem.
ReplyDeleteI meant Jaybird: not dyslexia, just sloppy typing!
ReplyDelete